DOGE’s Elon Musk Makes Bitcoin Joke At Janet Yellen After US Treasury Breach

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who will be leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Donald Trump administration, has taken a fresh Bitcoin jibe at US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen over the recent incident of a Chinese hack. His comments come as the investigation proceeds into the alleged Chinese hack of the US Treasury Department earlier this month.

DOGE Chief Elon Musk Takes A Bitcoin Jibe At Janet Yellen

Late Thursday, fresh reports into the investigation suggested that Chinese hackers gained access to the computer of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the latest breach. Commenting on this, Elon Musk said: “Maybe she clicked on the “send me 1 btc, I send you 2btc” email”.

Maybe she clicked on the “send me 1 btc, I send you 2btc” email 😂 https://t.co/mtIfZ4Cd4Z

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2025

The DOGE chief humorously suggested that Janet Yellen might have fallen for an email scam where the scammer asks for 1 Bitcoin (BTC) with the promise of returning 2 Bitcoin (BTC) in exchange. This is a very common type of advance fee scam wherein hackers trick the victim in the hope of sending a larger amount back, which usually never happens.

It’s been a while since Elon Musk made a Bitcoin commentary and it comes at a time when the BTC price has managed to breach the $100K resistance convincingly. As of press time, the BTC price is trading 1.6% up at $101,183.41 while convincingly clinching the $2 trillion market cap.

Chinese Hackers Breached US Treasury Secretary’s Computer

Amid the ongoing investigation, a source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Chinese hackers managed to infiltrate Janet Yellen’s computer and thus managed to get access to unclassified files. One of the sources said that less than 50 files on Yellen’s computer were accessed.

The attackers also breached the computers of two of Yellen’s top officials: Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Acting Under Secretary Brad Smith, according to sources.

Moreover, the attackers primarily targeted the Treasury Department’s involvement in sanctions, intelligence, and international affairs but did not breach its email or classified systems, according to a prior Treasury report.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Treasury staff briefed congressional aides and lawmakers about the hack. These discussions coincided with the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation hearing on Thursday for Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary.